sport news Alejandro Garnacho's petulant dig at Erik ten Hag shows the ludicrous sense of ... trends now
Social media has become a toxic cesspit that often enables the worst of society to surface.
It is pretty much uncontrolled and allows anonymity, enabling cowards and breeding hate, discontent and divisiveness.
Those that run and control social media know that conflict and division generate traffic, none of which is for the good of society.
It drags people into unwelcome spaces, enables delusion and people of a very strange thought-process to connect with one another in a way that creates an echo chamber and gives people voices that perhaps they shouldn't have.
I'm not suggesting freedom of speech is something we should remove but, social media, on balance, does more harm than good.
Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho got himself into hot water this week after 'liking' two posts suggesting Erik ten Hag 'threw him under the bus' by taking him off at Bournemouth
Garnacho was hooked at half-time as United struggled at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday
Garnacho then 'liked' two tweets by United YouTuber Mark Goldbridge suggesting Ten Hag has 'thrown him under the bus' and was 'scared of upsetting the bigger earners'
Unfortunately, it's a reality, an everyday tool and part of life now. It does of course have merits but society would likely be a better place without social media.
But this is the world we live in. We take the benefits of pressing a button to order whatever we want instantaneously.
We take the benefits of being able to voice our dissatisfaction and call businesses out without having to go through the painful process of being told 'we really care about your call' while being put on hold for 45 minutes via an automated answering service.
Social media does have positive aspects. It helps raise awareness of injustices and charities but the inability to police it and the darkness of the world, tragically, means it has an ability to subvert everything.
So while there are positives, it's often used as a divisive, abusive tool.
And this brings us to football and the game's relationship with social media.
Manchester United's teenage winger Alejandro Garnacho landed himself in trouble for 'liking' a post that was critical of his treatment by Erik Ten Hag.
The United manager's crime? Substituting Garnacho at half-time at Bournemouth.
Such issues and headaches for managers never used to exist. But it shouldn't be complicated to deal with.
The central values of a football club should be well established and the fact that Garnacho chose to ignore them might explain some of the challenges United face over their culture.
Saturday's 2-2 draw on the south coast was another chastening afternoon in a difficult season for Manchester United, with Ten Hag under serious pressure
Clubs place clear obligations on players to behave in a certain way. Social media rules in a contract should be very clear – you're not allowed to criticise the club or its senior personnel.
The fact players think they can – and Garnacho is not the first and won't be the last – is the challenging conundrum football faces in balancing power between players, managers and owners.
Garnacho's performances have been a rare positive in a season of disappointment
If there was a stand-off between Ten Hag and Garnacho, who's going to win in the eyes of the outside world?
Well, Garnacho's a young starlet on a long contract, worth a few quid and Ten Hag is a manager whose position is under threat.
I know who should win, regardless of the manager's future, and it should really be the club taking a stance, not the manager.
There is simply no need for an influential, recognisable footballer like Garnacho giving validity to a social media post from some random person making an observation that is uninformed and based solely upon their opinion.
If I was still involved in football I'd be very clear. If you have a criticism of the club or want an audience because you are unhappy with something then deal with it internally.
Clubs are not run by Mao Tse-Tung-type figures. People can be spoken to in a respectful fashion and once grievances have been
